HalfSister
by Not That Girl
Summary: A girl discovers she has a halfsister but her halfsister doesn't know it. The thing is, their paths cross a few too many times for someone's liking. Hopefully not fluffy
1. The Argument

A/N: Ta-da! A Tortall story!

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"Da, please!" she begged. "I really want to meet her!

Her da looked over at her, skeptical. "I know you do. But you're not going to.

"DA! She's my half-sister! It's not fair that I can't meet her!

"It's too great a risk.

"I can disguise myself! You know that! She won't know who I am, I promise!

Her da sighed. He had been cursed Ð blessed Ð _given_ one of the most stubborn daughters ever to exist. He blamed it on her ma.

"No.

"Da, 21 years is a long time to have a half-sister and _never meet her_. Even more, I didn't know she existed until she was thirteen! That was eight years ago, Da! Why can't I meet her?

Shaking his head, her da answered, "I can't allow it, my dear. It's just --

"Too great a risk, I know. Why is it such a risk?

"I can't explain it --

His daughter stood up and walked angrily out of the room. Too long, she thought. 21 years is too long.

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A/N: The main-character-whose-name-you-don't-know-yet has been in my head for a long time, and she got out.


	2. Meeting Daine

-- POV of main-character-whose-name-you-don't-know-yet --

Sometimes, Da drives me crazy. Like when he says, "Guess what? You've got a half-sister!" thirteen years after she was born. Then, he says I can't meet her!

Now, though, it's my turn to say, "Guess what?

Guess what, Da? You're stuck in the Divine Realms for 91 more years! And I'm not!

Sucks to be him. [laughs evilly]

Crap, did Mithros hear that?

-- Neutral POV --

Alysapet stood nervously outside the palace stables, not wanting to go in right away, though she would have to eventually. The horse next to her sensed her apprehension, and Alysapet laid a gentling hand on it neck.

She was fond of horses Ð all animals really. She liked horses quite a lot; nearly as much as she liked mice. They were adorable, and really rather nice, but most people looked down on them. Not her.

A stray breeze blew a strand of her curly red hair into her face. She shook her head, attempting to dislodge it, then made a face. She removed the hair manually.

"Are you all right?" asked a voice near her elbow. Alysapet jumped, startled, and glanced in the direction of the voice.

Standing there was a woman with brown hair, curling and thick like Alysapet's own. "I hate my hair, but other than that, yeah," she said, smiling.

The woman grinned. "I hate my hair too," she replied. "Do you need anything?

"Um, my horse Ð there's something wrong with her, and I don't know what," Alysapet answered, not very truthfully. She knew exactly what was wrong with the horse.

"I can take care of that," said the woman, and extended her hand. "I'm Daine. Nice to meet you.

Alysapet jumped, once again. When Daine looked at her curiously, she mumbled, "I've waited a long time to meet the Wildmage," then shook her hand. "I'm Alysapet.

"Glad to meet you.

"You've said nice to meet you already, isn't that enough?

Daine twisted her mouth in a wry smile. "Probably. You're rather observant, aren't you?

"Yep. You said you could take care of Yora?

Daine nodded, and led the way into the stable. Alysapet smiled, the smile of a girl who had gotten her way.

A/N: Did you like it? Reviewing is the only way I'll know

FoolishlyBraveShadowedStar: Thank you for reviewing in the first five seconds or so I posted it. Your penname is VERY long, by the way. And I lied, you haven't found out the main character's name yet.


	3. Sarra ::The Backstory::

A/N: Hopefully all will be made clear in this chapter. I know the chapter title is very cheesy, but, it works. (by the way, it's supposed to be ÔSarra (The Backstory).')

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Her father was at the cottage door, looking rather displeased with his daughter. Well, reflected Alysapet, it's not like I'm not allowed to visit the Human Realms. But she slowed noticeably and approached the cottage slowly, nonetheless.

"Where have you been?" he demanded, as soon as she was near.

"Elsewhere," she replied curtly.

His eyes flashed, and he stepped towards Alysapet. She moved aside. Her father turned, and told her, "I said that you could not visit your sister.

"Don't got a sister.

"For the love of mercy," he growled. It was an expression he had taken to using, since Alysapet had been living there the past few years. "Your half-sister, then!

"Oh, you mean Daine?

"Yes!

"It's none of your business!

"My daughter is my business.

"It doesn't exactly help that you're confined to the Divine Realms, does it?

Alysapet and her father argued often, and mostly about Daine. It wasn't Alysapet's fault that she was curious Ð well, not really, anyway. Their arguments usually followed the same path, but today, her father changed it.

"I forbid you from visiting Daine!' he roared, fed up with Alysapet.

"You deal with Mithros, then, when her asks why the Mercy goddess isn't helping her. 'Cause I'm sure not going to.

Her father closed eyes, wondering, once again, why he had ever let Alysapet become the goddess of mercy. It was continually getting in the way of fatherly wrath.

--

Alysapet strode past him, and into the house. Sarra was there, making dinner. "Smells good," commented Alysapet.

Sarra smiled. "It's one of my favorites.

"Can I help?

"Of course," Sarra answered, and Alysapet set to work, doing what Sarra asked.

Her own mother, whom she barely remembered, had not been as cheerful as Sarra. In fact, Lea had always seemed rather depressed to her daughter. It had been a long time since Alysapet had last seen her mother, though. To the people who lived now, they would have been considered Old Ones. She might have been mad about Sarra becoming a goddess Ð Sarra had always said she would understand if she had Ð but she wasn't. Sarra was perfectly suited to being the Green Lady, and Alysapet just couldn't see Lea happy in the Divine Realms.

When Weiryn, her father, came inside for dinner, he seemed to have recovered from the fight. He normally did, and if he hadn't, Alysapet would have felt awful. It was the way she was. There were a lot of times when she wished she wasn't.

The dinner was just as good as it had smelled. At first, when Sarra was just getting the hang of Divine Realms cooking, it hadn't been, but now every meal was fantastic. Alysapet was glad she was there Ð she couldn't cook well at all.

After dinner, Alysapet was called away. Unlike the Green Lady, she usually went _physically_ to the places where people called on her. It was frequently many places at once, so she tried to pick the most important. It was difficult. At mealtimes, she ignored all but the most urgent. Right now, she went to Corus.

Her work carried her near the palace, and so she went to visit Daine. On her last visit, Diane had asked her to please come again Ð it was rare she found people who like animals for animals in a city. Of course, Alysapet had left out the fact that she had wild magic too, but Daine's request had served for a good excuse.

As she walked towards the palace, a group ahead of her caught her eye. They were talking loudly among themselves. She so interested in their conversation Ð she could barely hear it Ð that she did not notice the figure until they had collided.

---

A/N: Cliffhanger!

Alysapet: Suffer, foolish mortals! Éhey, don't look at me like that! Gainel told me to say it

I am very happy right now, because I got to eat bagels/cheese-and-applesauce for dinner, plus I got Princess in Pink! And I have Adobe Photoshop AND Adobe Elements!

So

Yay to my reviewers!

Jade Limill: Hopefully it's not confusing now!

FoolishlyBraveShadowedStar: Am I free of lunch table damage? Have I told you how long your penname is recently? And, courtesy of FoolishlyBraveShadowedStar, to people reading this: FoolishlyBraveShadowedStar is my other half, and I am not mean and cruel to everyone who reviews Ð just her.


	4. Of Sugar & Shadow

A/N: I promise to never leave this story for so long again!   
And thanks to misk for giving me the inspiration to write this chapter! (Not that I don't appreciate the other reviews, but she just reviewed today, and it's the first review I've gotten for a while {obviously}).   
  
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"Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, I wasn't looking where I was going—"   
  
The person looked amused at Alysapet's discomfiture. "It's all right. Really, it's as much my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going either."   
  
Then Alysapet noticed something – this person looked very familiar. "Daine?"   
  
"Alysapet! Interesting. I don't often run into people on the streets, you know, and I rarely know them, if I do."   
  
Alysapet surveyed Daine. She seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere. "What brings you to the city today?" she asked. "I thought you stayed up at the palace most of the time."   
  
"I do, but my husband wants me to meet him in Port Caynn, something about my magic, I think. He really wasn't very clear."   
  
Alysapet blinked. I was going to go to Port Caynn this evening. That is very strange. Then she smiled – if she weren't a goddess herself, she would have said that they were playing tricks on her. As it was, she put it down to fate, then said, "I'm going to Port Caynn too. Mind if I come with you?"   
  
"Of course not."   
  
They walked together through the streets of Corus, looking for someone who would be willing to give the Wildmage and her friend a ride. Something seemed strange to Alysapet, though. She voiced her question: "If you have wild magic, can't you just shapeshift or something and fly to Port Caynn?"   
  
Daine pulled a note out of the pocket of her worn breeches, saying, "Numair asked me not to. He said I'd probably need most of my magic at Caynn, not to spend it shapeshifting."   
  
"Oh. Did he tell you why?"   
  
Ruefully, Daine informed her, "No, not really. You can read his note – if you can read his handwriting."   
  
Alysapet looked over the scrap of paper, and attempted to decipher the handwriting. It was fairly difficult, but from what she could tell, it read:   
  
_Daine, I need your help in Port Caynn. I think your wild magic will be of use with something I'm trying to do. My Gift isn't too much of a help. Please get here as soon as you can – but try to use your magic as little as possible. I think you will need a lot of it._   
  
"Something to do with wild magic, obviously, but beyind that, I don't know."   
  
It could be almost anything, Alysapet thought. She knew, firsthand, the large amount of strange things wildmagic could be used for.   
  
The two walked in silence for a while. Then, when they were nearly out of the city, Daine pointed out a stable. The sign was so battered by the elements that the name was illegible, but the stables themselves seemed to be in fairly good shape. They went inside.   
  
A nearly bald man stood at a rough desk, carved crudely out of – apparently – myriads of woods. He noticed them enter immediately, but ignored them, working on something behind his desk, until Alysapet said very loudly, "Hello!"   
  
He jumped noticeably. Taking a deep breath, he answered. "What do you want?"   
  
"That's rather rude," from Alysapet. "You should be nicer to potential customers. Anyway, wed like to borrow two horses from you, too ride tomorrow. What have you got?'   
  
The man, looking rather disgruntled, gruffly handed over a list.   
  
After looking up and down the list (several times) Daine asked if they could go look at the horses. With a brusque nod, he pointed and gestured for them to go that way.   
  
The stables were, indeed, well taken care of, and Daine and Alysapet surveyed them with satisfaction. No matter how bad-tempered the management was, they did good with their horses.   
  
Alysapet picked a beautiful bay mare named Sugar. The mare's name clearly reflected her disposition – she was one of the sweetest horses she had ever seen, on par with her own Yora. Daine chose a dappled grey gelding by the name of Shadow. He seemed a bit temperamental, but worked well with Daine.   
  
They went back to the man in charge and informed him of their choices. He was still grumpy, and they left rather annoyed. As Alysapet put it, "He is one of the worst stable owners I have ever encountered," and for her, that was saying a lot.   
  
"See you tomarrow, then?' asked Daine as they went further into the city.   
  
"Yeah, after breakfast, at the stable?"   
  
"Sure."   
  
They exchanged goodbyes, and Daine went palace-wards, while Alysapet quietly went back to the Divine Realms.   
  
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She crept quietly through the house, being careful not to wake her father or Sarra. Though it was after sundown, the area around her house still rang with noises of night-creatures, doing whatever it was they did, so as long as she didn't creak on the stairs, she could get to her room with nary a sound. She had had long practice at avoiding the creaky spots – they should probably have fixed them a long time ago, but Weiryn was not a fixer-of-things, and Alysapet was rather busy.   
  
In truth, to Alysapet the squeaky spots were just one more thing that made their home home, and that they had learned to more or less avoid those places over the years was one more thing that made them family.   
  
Sarra was still learning.   
  
--------------- A/N: I like that chapter… don't why, just do.   
  
Jade Limill: You read my mind… creepy.   
Miamouse: I'm not sure about all the background info yet, I'm still making it up, mostly, but I'll try to put some of it in the next chapters.   
FoolishlyBraveShadowedStar: Well, I have this whole thing where "Elizabeth" becomes a ripoff of the name Alysapet.   
Basest-8: I'm really very good at writing with lots of detail (it gets on my nerves), but I'm trying.   
Misk: My idea is awesome! [tears] j/k, thanks! It's cool that your name's Alyssa, I was basing Alysapet's name of a cross between Alyssa and Elizabeth… 


	5. Ride

A/N: My penname used to be or  
je. .suis. .finis for those of you wondering.  
  
I realized I forgot to put in the last chapter that Daine isn't riding Cloud or one of the palace horses because (a) Cloud wants to rest and (b) Daine feels she's getting too used to animals that regularly speak with her and she should expand her field of   
  
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How's Daine doing?  
  
The voice, though quiet, nonetheless caught Alysapet unawares. She had been expecting Sarra to burst out yelling, or scolding, or something. When she had heard the creaking, she knew it was Sarra, not her father – Weiryn would never had stepped there – and though she knew Sarra wasn't as adamant as her father about her visiting her sister, she had never been certain, exactly, of her stance on the issue. Now, from the curiousity and warmth in the Green Lady's voice, it appeared that she was not quite against it.  
  
How'd you know I was here? she asked her foster-mother.  
  
Sarra uncovered a lit candle. I saw you coming up the path. Your father was asleep, and there was no need to waken him. You're very quiet, Alysa, dear.  
  
_Alysa._ Her mother had never called her anything but Alysapet, and it meant a lot to her that Sarra would call her Alysa – not even her father did – and in fact, as far as she knew, the only people who had called her Alysa had been her friends, when she was a small child, no older than ten.  
  
I'll take that as a compliment, she commented dryly. I guess it comes from living with a hunt god for as long as I have.  
  
Sarra smiled, then repeated her earlier question: How _is_ Daine?  
  
She's as well. Wait, I take that back, she's confused.  
  
I believe anyone who has spent much time in your presence would be a bit confused, dear. Why?  
  
Well, it's more of a bit confused, not a lot. Her husband wants her in Port Caynn, and she's not sure why. And I think it's confusing her. It's confusing me, quite truthfully, for I'll be needed in Port Caynn tomorrow, too.  
  
Frowning slightly, Sarra said,   
  
They stood in silence for a while, neither bothering to sit down, though there were plenty of places to in the room – or rather, if either of them had wanted to, they could have scooted beyond Alysapet's door and into her room, then sat down. Instead, they stood in the doorway.  
  
Eventually, Sarra, still frowning, looked up. You should probably be getting to bed.  
  
Alysapet nodded, then swept into her room. She still had many things to think about, and she pondered them as she shut the door and climbed into her cot.  
  
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The next morning, Alysapet crept quietly out of her room and down to the kitchen. She made a simple breakfast. After eating it quickly, she went back outside.  
  
She felt almost at home amongst the trees and the chattering god-animals, a home that she had had all her life, even when she and her mother had had to move around, when their home had burned in a tragic accident. While it had been her father who had given her this gift, this wildmagic, he was a hunter. She was a mercy goddess. There was a difference – he killed the things that she so loved.  
  
That was one reason for their arguments. It was also the reason she had been so happy when she found out that she had a sister (even though Daine was technically a half-sister): there was someone else who loved her (as she tended to think) creatures as much as she did.  
  
Taking in one more breath of the clean air of the Divine Realms, Alysapet went to the Human Realms.  
  
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Dawn was breaking over the city of Corus as Alysapet stepped into the open space by the stables, where she and Daine had arranged to meet. After a few minutes of waiting, the Wildmage arrived, and the two went inside the stables.  
  
As before, the stableboy at the front was rather grumpy, so they hurried to get their horses and leave.  
  
Once outside again, Alysapet took a few minutes to simply enjoy being there. The Divine Realms were pleasant, but the had been born and raised here, in the Human ones. There was a vibrant aliveness to the plants here, a sense of temporariness, of needing to grow, that could not be found in the Divine Realms.  
  
You know, Daine said pensively, it seems like I've known for longer than just a day or two.  
  
Alysapet nodded. Same here.  
  
Of course, Daine didn't know about their father. _Blood calls to blood_, Alysapet though ruefully. Why didn't I think of that, before? It's no small wonder that I always felt a bit more--- something--- when I was in Corus near the palace, recently, or before, when I would work in Galla.  
  
They chatted for a while, then subsided into a comfortable silence. Alysapet listened to the people calling out for her help, sometimes murmuring, _it's all going to come out right, just keep believing, for I am the Mercy Goddess, and I am here._ They generally took comfort from that. There were some where Alysapet would normally have gone herself, but today nothing too terrible was happening, no torture or whatnot.  
  
At about noon, they reached Port Caynn. Daine threaded easily through the crowd, Alysapet following after. They found a stable for Shadow and Sugar.  
  
Daine turned to her half-sister. Let's go find Numair.  
  
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A/N: Sorry this took so long, but I'm having a hard time with the plot. I had the idea of Carthak launching nuclear missiles into Tortall, but Kally's married to Kaddar. . .  
Also, I am offering TWO cameo roles: one as one of Numair's fellow mages, and one as Numair's assistant. You can only have one role, and the first to ask for each will get it!  
  
Jade Limill: STOP FREAKING ME OUT. Well, you can, technically, it's just a little disturbing. . .  
CTHKSI: I don't really watch too much TV, and then only Sci-Fi, so no, I've never seen it. . . But great minds think alike, right?  
FoolishlyBraveDarkStar: And I've updated again! I'm glad you think she's cool.  
Stix89: Danke! Merci! Gracias! Grazie! (See, I can say thank-you' in 5 different languages!) I like that you like it.  
  
I'm not updating again till I get at least 16 reviews! So review, people!


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